Monitoring system for animal husbandry

Abstract

A monitoring system (800) is operative for receiving sensor signals and analyzing the sensor signals to identify events or conditions of interest, such as colic, with respect to a monitored animal. The sensors may be animal-borne sensors such as motion related sensors. The system (800) includes a processor (802) operative to identify the conditions of interest based on a stored pattern database (806), threshold tables (808) and heuristic engines (812). Upon identification of a condition of interest, a human expert may be consulted and alerts may be generated as required.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 599,133 entitled: “Animal Monitoring System” and having a filing date of Aug. 5, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention is directed to automated monitoring of animals. More specifically, the present invention is directed to monitoring symptoms or indications such as characteristic movements or other behaviors or medical parameters of animals to detect events / conditions of interest.BACKGROUND[0003]In animal husbandry settings, for example equine boarding facilities, breeding facilities, zoos and dairy farms, the health of animals is typically monitored by the staff of the facility and / or the owners of the animals. Such monitoring typically involves periodically visually inspecting the animals to identify any outward signs of potentially disabling conditions or other events ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]In this regard, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus (“utility”) for monitoring an animal for a condition of interest. The invention enables such monitoring to detect medical and non-medical events of interest or to obtain or aggregate information regarding animal behaviors and conditions. In this regard, the invention allows for safe and reliable long-term monitoring of animals in a variety of conditions including in the animals' customary living environments, whether in stalls or outside. Significantly, the invention allows for identification of events that may require prompt attention as well as remote notification of caregivers. In this manner, the invention can be used to save animals, improve diagnosis, minimize the potential harmful consequences of various conditions, enhance treatment options, reduce lost revenues, and increase caregiver peace of mind.

[0024]According to a still further aspect of the present invention, a utility is provided for monitoring multiple animals, for example, in a communal setting, to identify conditions of interest. The utility involves attaching at least one sensor to each of the animals, providing a processing platform operative for processing sensor signals to identify conditions of interest and linking the sensors attached to the multiple animals to the processing platform. In one implementation, the sensors are linked to the processing platform via a wireless connection and the signals are encoded in a manner that enables distinguishing the signals from the different animals. In this manner, certain efficiencies are provided in relation to the processing. For example, a single processing platform can support monitoring multiple animals and difficulties associated with updates to the processing logic are minimized. The processing platform may be locally controlled or may be interconnected to the sensors via a wide area network such as the Internet.

Problems solved by technology

The type of transmission employed in this regard may depend on power requirements, potential interferences, licensing issues and performance in challenging environments (through water, mud, etc.)

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